The wife of a fitness instructor who killed himself shortly after being released from custody said yesterday that he was let down by North Wales Police and staff at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

Jennifer Roberts said she called the police because of the risk that her husband Andrew, 32, posed to himself, but said they were more concerned about the risk to others.

The former Royal Marine hanged himself at his home in Rhos Street in Ruthin on Christmas Day in 2011, having twice been arrested and then released by the police.

After returning home the second time, he called his wife to say he was hanging himself and, though the police arrived at the scene within minutes and tried to resuscitate him, he died.

In the first arrest, officers used a Taser and captor spray to restrain him and he was taken from the custody suite at St Asaph to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd before being returned and then released.

At an inquest in Ruthin, it emerged that the police were told that he had been seen by the psychiatric liaison team while in hospital but that was incorrect. He was, however, assessed by the force’s medical officer Dr Rodney Gilmore.

Coroner John Gittins said at the close of the hearing that he intended to issue a Regulation 28 report calling for a tightening up of procedures between the hospital and police over the “Transfer of Care” cards when a prisoner is returned to custody.

In Andrew Roberts’ case, the card was not taken back to the police station by the officer who accompanied him and, though Mr Gittins said it might not have made any difference in his case, he wanted to ensure that it was done in future.

The jury returned a narrative conclusion by a majority of six to two.

It read: “It is more likely than not that Andrew Roberts intended to suspend himself and more likely than not he intended to kill himself but we cannot be sure of his intention.”

The hearing was told Mr Roberts had suffered from depression for many years and had taken an overdose on several occasions.

However, Mrs Roberts said his behaviour on Christmas Eve in 2011 was more worrying than ever before and he was upset about not being able to see his children from a previous marriage over Christmas.

At the end of the five-day hearing, Mrs Roberts, who had claimed that she felt her husband should have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, said: “Andy was a beloved father, husband, son and brother. His death was a tragedy which has torn apart the family and it was a tragedy which could so easily have been foreseen.”

She said: “He needed help and he needed it urgently. He was a danger to himself and he had made that fact more than clear.

“We feel that he was let down by North Wales Police and the doctors with whom he came into contact. The risk he posed to himself was somewhat overlooked in the concern for the risk that he posed to others.

“I had made a full statement to North Wales Police making it clear that the only reason I was reporting this was due to grave fears for Andy’s safety. The doctors and nurses at Glan Clwyd identified that he had an active desire to end his own life and he needed urgent psychiatric assessment.”

Mrs Roberts said that not only did he not receive that assessment, but the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board had misled everyone by stating that an assessment had been carried out and Mr Roberts had no genuine mental health problems, but was merely trying to avoid custody.

She said the family was disappointed that the question of neglect on the part of those who had been responsible for Andy was not allowed to be considered by the jury, as ordered by John Gittins, the coroner for North Wales East and Central.

“We will take solace in the fact that the coroner has seen fit to make recommendations to help prevent a tragedy occurring in the future,” added Mrs Roberts.